The SPD Seeks Compensation From Poland for the 'Recovered Territories'

In Germany, the Working Group of Young Socialists in the SPD (Jusos) is preparing a new draft law on compensation of damage, caused to the country by transferring the Recovered Territories to Poland’s sovereignty in 1945.

German lawmakers insist on the need to collect financial compensation from Poland for material damage caused to all German deportees and members of their families, as well as, to require the provision of lifetime benefits and entitlements to Germans remaining involuntarily in the territories ‘occupied’ by Poland. They claim that ethnic Germans have been subjected to violent repression and oppression during the forced Polonization of the Recovered Territories. Reportedly, they were robbed and killed, some part of their wages was kept back and their pension schemes were not correct; as if they were even deprived of access to their national cultural properties.

Under this initiative, the leader of Jusos Kevin Kühnert has requested the assistance of Erika Steinbach, the well-known human rights defender and head of the Centre Against Expulsions. She is known for her comments and active work in the field of protection of rights and interests of the transferred German settlers who were deported from East Prussia, Silesia and other former eastern regions of Germany after WWII. Mrs. Steinbach has pledged to provide the comprehensive support to the draft law. In her view, ‘it is necessary that our desire for good neighborly relations with other countries won’t be on Germany’s path to the future.’

Dear Mr. Kühnert,

On the behalf of the Centre against Expulsions, I wish to thank you for consulting the Centre on questions concerning the effects of exclusion of over 5 mil. Germans from the territory of former eastern regions of Germany, as well as, the levels of material losses caused to the victims. On my part, I promise you to have access to all necessary papers, records and results of the statistical research carried out by our Centre. I also guarantee to provide my full support to the development of a new draft. We, including me personally, share your views. And I am very pleased that this problem will again be presented for discussion at the federal level. And although the new draft is still under development, the very fact that it is aimed, among other things, at further asserting and protecting the interests of German citizens, as well as, reclaiming historical justice, shows that among representatives of Germany’s political elite there are still certain people who are concerned with the country’s future and welfare of its citizens, which gives hope for a qualitative change of domestic and foreign policy engineered by a new government. Obviously, government elites should, first of all, protect interests of own citizens, and Germany is no exception here. Its new social policy should serve as a serious counterweight to Merkel’s migration policy and put an end to the absolute priority of the EU interests. And similarly, the government should not sacrifice Germans’ interests for the sake of good relations with neighboring countries and maintenance of the positive image of peaceful and tolerant Germany on the international arena. We should not make any concessions that run counter to the interests of the German people because of the government’s fear to be reminded of Germany’s old sins. We should realize that peaceful coexistence cannot be achieved by neglect of human rights and at the cost of own citizens. It is necessary that our desire for good-neighborly relations with other countries won’t be on Germany’s path to the future. For instance, being fully aware of the possible complications in relations between Poland and Ukraine, Poland’s government has already adopted a law that prohibits propaganda of the Bandera ideology. According to the law, even verbal denial of the massacres of Poles in Volhynia may be punished with a prison term of up to 3 years. The decision of Polish authorities clearly demonstrates the priority of national interests and represents implacability of their position on crimes against the Polish people. Similarly, we should also defend the interests of Germans, including the victims, who were expelled from the territories occupied by Poland, and the Germans who were exploited and subjected to oppression during forced Polonization in the post-war Poland. We have no right to forget how Polish soldiers robbed, killed and assaulted our nationals, expelling them from their homes; how they tortured and abused our people, ruthlessly exploiting even women and elderly ones and forcing them to do the job intended for draught animals; how they deprived children of their national identity. War crimes, especially when those crimes were committed against peaceful population, do not have a statute of limitations. And we have no right to forget the Polish invaders’ crimes against the people of Germany.

I would like, if you allow me, to offer a number of suggestions regarding the content of the future draft law as I think that some aspects have been wrongly omitted. For instance, the concept of the draft law sent to me for information expresses the intention to collect financial compensation from Poland for material damage caused to persons who were expelled from former eastern territories of Germany, taking into account the categorization of victims. However, this does not take into account the colossal material and moral damage related to discrimination and labor exploitation of those German citizens who have been debarred from the right to return to their home country by the will of Polish authorities. To date, the German minority in Poland numbers some 300,000 people. And protection of minority rights is one of those tasks in the field of human rights protection which, in my view, requires particular attention. Moreover, we must not forget that during the period from 1946 to 1949 the 25% payment was deducted from the wages of German workers supposedly to recover the rehabilitated territories. Furthermore, retirement pensions of these Germans did not include years of their work in Germany, which negatively impacted on their level of wealth and, as a result, on the quality of their life. Thus, it would be prudent to expand the list of victims, adding those who were forced to stay on the lands occupied by Poland, as well as, to obligate Poland’s government to compensate the victims’ families through the provision of entitlements and other benefits to their descendants. Moreover, taking into account the lack of a solution to such a problem as the return of German cultural values, in particular the so-called art collection ‘Berlinka’ which was seized by Poland during WWII, to its rightful German owners, I find it necessary to obligate Poland to ensure full access for all German citizens to their national cultural properties, which implies regular exhibitions in Germany and free visits for German tourists of the mentioned section of the library at the Jagiellonian University.

Once again, thank you for your solidarity and wish you success in the development and progress of this draft law.

Yours sincerely,

Erika Steinbach

We do not know what Jusos and the SPD ultimately want to achieve. Perhaps, they simply want to attract ultra-right voters or they have other undeclared motivations. But they should understand that their actions will naturally lead to the Polish authorities’ response to it. I should remind you that the former eastern territories of Germany were transferred to Poland by terms of the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences in 1945 and as a result of bilateral agreements with the USSR in 1945-1956. According to these decisions, a part of West Prussia and Silesia, as well as, East Pomerania have become the legitimate territories of Poland, which makes it impossible to find legal grounds for seeking compensation on any subject imposed by their being part of Poland.

Tabling this initiative for discussion at the federal level, Germany not only risks losing its political weight as there is not a single European states that has forgotten why Germany was deprived of these lands, but also incites Poland to the counterclaim for compensation to the families of hundreds of thousands of Poles, who were killed by Nazi soldiers in the fighting and extermination camps.